Ed Board has been looking at the calendar, and it has come toour attention that November is coming up fast. Most Novembers arenotable only for the Thanksgiving holiday, complete with turkeydinners, football and lots of leftovers.

This November, however, we Americans get the chance to do alittle something called “electing the next President.”It happens every four years, and we’re sure you’veheard of it.

You should all be at least 18 by now, which means you can votein the upcoming election. Wait, scratch that: should vote. Thisisn’t some high school student council election we’retalking about, where it doesn’t really matter in the long runwho gets the office. This is the election for the President of theUnited States of America, and like it or not, whoever gets the jobwill be the most powerful individual in the world for fouryears.

We live in a nation built around the voting booth. It is thefoundation of our government and the root of our democraticsociety. Ed Board thinks that’s not something to takelightly. It’s the one chance you get to weigh in on who youthink ought to be President for the next four years. And even ifyour candidate loses, at least you got out there to cast yourvote.

In Ed Board’s opinion, voting gives you the right tocomplain and gripe when your favorite candidate loses to the otherguy because you did your part. If you don’t vote, youdon’t get to complain because you just sat on your butt anddid nothing.

Tragically, we live in a state where the result is pretty muchpre-determined. No matter which candidate you support, it’stempting to skip voting because we already know who’s goingto win. If you support Kerry, it feels like your vote means nothingcompared to the mountain of people voting for Bush. And if yousupport Bush, it feels like your vote means nothing in the middleof all those Kerry votes.

But at the same time, the act of voting itself is significant.By casting a vote, you are letting your voice be heard. Whether ornot the rest of the country agrees with you is another issueentirely. The point is, by voting you are exercising your right asan American to voice your opinion, even when that opinion isunpopular. And if you don’t exercise that right enough, itwill become weak and ineffectual, like an atrophied limb.

It’s your country and your future. You have a chance onTuesday, Nov. 2 to let America know what kind of a future you wantit to be. Don’t squander it.